Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester A. Laminack, illustrated by Henry ColePublished by Peachtree Publishing

The Tuckers’ farm is a quiet place until, one day, when a peacock shows up on the front step. Not one to sit idly by, the peacock starts strutting his stuff, and draws a crowd to the Tuckers’ farm stand. Not too surprisingly, the hens start to get jealous of all the attention the peacock is getting, especially since he doesn’t even do any of the work around the farm, not like them, intrepid egg-layers that they are. In order to calm everyone down, the farm hound dog suggests that the peacock and the hens switch jobs.

My very favorite thing about Three Hens and a Peacock is the illustration. The pictures are gorgeously drawn, slightly cartoonish with rich, beautiful colors. The level of detail in the illustration just adds to the pure beauty. I also like the twist on the ‘be yourself’ storyline; the hens are so much fun when they are trying to fancy themselves up, to be what they aren’t. You really can’t beat chickens with beads, bows, and bracelets. Plus, you know Daniel loves the fact that there are chickens, not to mention cows (although the cows are just part of the farm backdrop).

Three Hens and a Peacock is a fun and beautiful book, and one our family has really enjoyed. Highly recommended.